Rotary engine



Patented Sept. 27, I898.

N. WITTS.

ROTARY ENGINE.

(Application filed Apr. 11. 1898.)

3 Sheets-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

q v vtmmoas v. Patented Sept. 27, [898. N. WITTS.

ROTARY ENGINE.

(Applieatien filed Apr.

3 $heetsSheet 3.

(No Model.)

nummmw moo/nboz QJV ZSOW, 59/5 abfomm NITED STATE-s PATENT Finch,

ROTARY ENGIQN E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 611,307, dated September 27, 1898.

' Application filed April 11, 1898. Serial No. 677,216. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, NELSON WITTS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Alma City, in the county of Waseca and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Engines; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an improvement in rotary engines, and more particularly to a reversible rotary steam-engine having a revoluble wheel provided with radially-movable pistons; and it has for its object to provide a reversible rotary steam-engine which is simple and inexpensive in construction, easy and effective in operation,which will effecta great saving of steam, and in which friction shall be reduced to as small an extent as is consistent with the proper packing of the joints, compensation made for wear, pressure so regulated on the pistons as to balance the wheel and facilitate the revolution of same, and other advantages, as hereinafter set forth.

My invention consists of a rotary engine having a casing, a wheel arranged in said casing and having radially-movable pistons, a shaft to which the wheel is secured, means for supplying the motive fluid to and for exhausting the same from the engine, means for compensating for wear and packing the piston-wheel, and other features, and in the construction, combination, and arrangement of the several parts comprising the same, as more fully hereinafter described and claimed.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is an end view, partly in section; Fig. 2, a front view, partly in section, of one section of the casing; Fig. 3, an inner face I View, partly in section, of the other section of the casing; Fig. 4, a plan view with the supports for the driving-shaft, and the inletvalves not shown; Fig. 5, a horizontal section on line x 00 of Fig. 3, looking upward, when the sections of the casing are together; Fig. 6, a detail perspective View of one of the radial pistons; Fig. 7, a detail perspective view of one of the check-valves; Fig. 8, a detail perspective View of the combined inlet and outlet reversing-valve.

In the drawings, in which like letters and figures of reference denote like parts through out the several views, A represents the casing, consisting of two sections B O, secured together by bolts D, eachsection having feet E, on which the casing is supported.

Fis the drive-shaft of the engine, supported in holes Gin the sections of the casing and in stuffing-boxes H on the outer faces thereof, and the ends of said shaft supported in suitable journal-boxes on uprights I I.

The section Bis provided on its inner face with .an annular flange J, a circular projection or hub K, and an annular recess L between said flange and hub.

The section 0 is provided on its inner face with an annular flange M, a circular projection or hub N, and an annular recess 0 between said flange and hub, said hub N pro vided with a central circular recess P and a cam-groove Q.

- R is the piston-wheel, provided with a hub S and a hole T through said wheel and hub, adapted to receive the shaft F, on which said wheel is mounted. One face of said wheel is provided with an annular rim U, which fits over the hub K of the section B, and its other face V, provided with an annular rim W, secured thereto by bolts W, which fits over the hub N of the section 0, and is provided with slots X in its outer edge having guides Y and recesses Y. Z are radial slots also in the face V of the wheel.

1 are pistons located and adapted to reciprocate inslots Z, the inner ends of said pistons being provided with studs or pins 2, on which are mounted antifriction rollers 3, adapted to' engage and move in the cam-slot Q of the section 0, and the outer ends thereof with a head 4, provided with top plate 5, adapted to be seated in recesses Y, and side flanges 6, adapted to slide in guides Y.

7 are packing-rings which surround the hubs K and N of the sections and are held in contact with the rims U and W of the wheel by spiral or other springs 8 for the purpose of packing and compensating for any wear of the same.

9 is the valve-chest at the upper end of the casing, having an abutment 10, which projects into the casing and bears against the periphery of the piston-wheel.

11 is a spring packing-plate seated in a re cess 12 in the abutment and held in contact with the periphery of the piston-wheel for the purpose of compensating for wear and effecting a steam-tight joint.

13 and 14 are inlet-openings in the valvechest of the section 0, and 15 and 16 are outletopenings in the section 13, communication being established at the bottom between said inlet and outlet openings by means of ports 17 and 18.

19 and 20-are check-valves in the inlet-openings 13 and 14, respectively.

21 is a steam inlet or supply pipe, and 22 a steam outlet or exhaust pipe, said pipes being supported in plates 23, screwed to the top of the valve-chest, the inlet-pipes communicating with the inlet-openings of the valvechest and the outletpipes communicating with the outlet-openings of the valve-chest.

2% is a combined inlet and outlet reversingvalve provided with notches 25 and 20, the end having the notch 25 being situated in and adapted to reverse the admission of steam into the inlet-pipes and the other end having the notch 26 being situated in and adapted to reverse the exhaust of steam from the outletpipes, and 26 a lever for operating the said valve 24:.

2'7 and 28 are valve-stems on the valves 19 and 20, respectively mounted in suitable bearings in the top of the uprights I.

29 and 30 are loosely-mounted flanged pinions mounted on the shafts 27 and 28, respectively, and each provided with a lug 31.

32 and 33 are disks rigidly secured on the stems 27 and 28, respectively, and provided with lugs 34: and 35, and 36 levers for throwing the valves into or out of use; 37, a cog-wheel mounted on the drive-shaft F and meshing with the pinions 29 and 30, and thereby communicating motion to the same, and 38 a belt- Wheel on the drive-shaft F for transmitting power.

39 is a cock for drawing off the water resulting from the condensation of steam.-

The operation is as follows: The valves and pistons being in the position shown in the drawings, steam is admitted constantly through inlet-pipe 21 into the inlet-opening 13, and passes through the port 17 into the space between the casing and the periphery of the piston wheel, and acting upon the piston and the abutment which it has passed revolves the piston-wheel and shaft one-sixth of a revolution, revolving the cog-wheel 37 one-sixth of a revolution, which in turn revolves the pinion 30 on valve-stem 28 and the valve 19 on said stem a full revolution, and thereby causing the valve to close and open, cutting off and admitting the steam. Then the expansive force of the steam between the abutment and piston will cause the pistonwheel to revolve one-twelfth of a revolution. In the meantime another piston has passed under the abutment 10 and has been moved outwardly by the cam-groove Q. This operation is continued, and when the piston-wheel has revolved until the first piston operated upon begins to be drawn in by the cam-groove Q the steam first admitted exhausts by passing through the port 18, outlet-opening 15, and through outlet or exhaust pipe 22. When it is desired to reverse the engine, the checkvalve 19 is thrown out and the tooth 34: on the disk 33 disengaged from the tooth 31 on the pinion 30 and the valve20 thrown in and the reversing-valve 24 given half a turn,when the engine is ready to run in the opposite direction.

While steam in this instance has been referred to as the motive force, any other suitable fluid might be used.

I do not limit myself to special forms or details of construction, as I intend to change the form of construction as may be found expedient and within the spirit of my invention. Although a closed casing is shown, a partially-open casing can be used, especially when it is to be used as a water-wheel.

hat I claim is- 1. A rotary engine comprising a casing having a motive-fluid space, a valve-chest provided with an abutment, inlet-openings, and outlet openings, ports connecting the said inlet-openings with the outlet-openings, a rotatable valve for each of the inlet-openings, one of which is adapted to be continuously revolved while the other valve remains stationary, or vice versa, a valve for reversing the inlet and exhaust of steam to and from the motive-fluid space, and a piston-wheel in said casing provided with radially-movable pistons, adapted to be projected into and withdrawn from the motive-fluid space, substantially as described.

2. A rotary engine comprising a casing having a motive-fiuid space, a valve-chest provided with an abutment, inlet-openings, and outlet-openings, ports connecting the said inlet-openings with the outlet-openings, a 1'0- tatable valve for each of the inlet-openings, one of said valves adapted to be continuously revolved while the other valve remains stationary, or vice versa, a valve for reversing the inlet and exhaust of steam to and from the motive-fluid space, a cam-groove in the casing, a piston-wheel provided with radial pistons having antifriction-rollers, adapted to engage the cam-groove for the purpose of projecting the pistons into and withdrawing the same from the motive-fluid space, substantially as described.

3. A rotary engine comprising a casing having a motive-fluid space, a valve-chest provided with an abutment, inlet-openings, and on tlet-openings, ports for connecting the said inlet-openings with the outlet-openings, a rotatable valve for each of the inlet-openings, and means for continuously and automatically rotating one of said valves, while the other valve remains stationary, or vice versa', a valve for reversing the inlet and exhaust of steam to and from the motive-fluid space, and

IIC

a piston-wheel in said casing provided with radially-movable pistons adapted to be automatically projected into and withdrawn from the motive-fluid space, substantially as described.

4. A rotary engine comprising a casin g having avalve-chest provided with an abutment extending into the casing, a shaft revoluble in bearings in the casing, a piston-wheel on the shaft in said casing, a motive-fluid space around a portion of the piston-wheel, pistons movable radially on said piston-wheel, and

- means for projecting the pistons into the motive-fluid space as soon as they clear the abutment, and to retract said pistons before they reach the abutment again, inlet-openings, and outlet-openings in said valve-chest communi eating with the m otive-fluid space and a fluidsupply, a rotatable valve located in each of said inlet-openings,one of said valves adapted to be continuously revolved while the other remains stationary, or vice versa, and a combined inlet and outlet reversing-valve located in the inlet and outlet pipes, for the purpose of reversing the inlet and exhaust of steam, substantially as described.

5. A rotary engine comprising a casing having a wheel, a motive-fluid space, a valve chest, inlet openings, and outletopenings, ports connecting the said inlet-openings with the outlet-openin gs, a rotatable valve for each of said inlet-openings adapted to be moved laterally into and out of operation, means for rotating said valves and throwing them into and out of operation, and means for reversing the inlet and exhaust of steam to and from the motive-fluid space, substantially as described.

6. A rotary engine comprising a casing having amotive-fluid space, a valve-chest, inletopenings, and outlet-openings, ports connecting the said inlet-openings with the outletopenings, valves for the inlet-openings, means for reversing the inlet and exhaust of steam to and from the motive-fluid space, a driveshaft mounted in said casing, a wheel in the casing mounted on said shaft, and means for communicating motion from said shaft to one of said check-valves for the purpose of rotating the same, while the other valve remains stationary, or vice versa, substantially as de scribed.

7. A rotary engine comprising a casing having a drive-shaft mounted therein, a wheel in the casing mounted 011 said shaft, a cogwheel mounted on said shaft outside the easing, a motive-fluid space, a valve-chest, inletopenings, and outlet-openings, ports connecting the said inlet-openings with the outletopenings, valves for the inlet-openings provided with stems having flanged pinions mounted loosely thereon, adapted to engage the cog-wheel on the drive-shaft, clutch mechanism rigidly secured on said stems adapted to engage said pinions and cause the same to turn therewith, and means for reversing the inlet and exhaust of steam to and from the motive-fluid space,substantially as described.

8. In a rotary engine, a casing having a drive-shaft, a valve-chest provided with inletopenings, and outlet-openings, a rotatable valve in each of said inlet-openings, each having a stem adapted to be moved laterally to throwthe valves into and out of operation, and means for communicating motion from the drive-shaft to said stems, and continuously revolving one of said valves while the other remains stationary, or vice versa, substantially as described.

9. Arotary engine eomprisin g a casing having a drive-shaft with a piston-wheel, a valvechest with inlet-openings, and outlet-openings, a rotatable valve in each inlet-opening, each having a stem with a two-part clutch thereon, one part of which is loosely mounted on said stem while the other part is fixed and adapted to slide the stem laterally in the other part, to engage therewith and cause it to turn with said stem when in operation, and means for communicating motion from the drive-shaft to the clutch, substantially asde scribed.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

NELSON WITTS.

\Vitnesses:

LILLIE B. STABLER, ARTHUR STAl BLER. 

